SACRAMENTAL LIVING

Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life

Temptation

“Paul admits that he has great anxiety for the churches in the religion of Colossae [Colossians 2:1-7]. He is worried that false teachers will lead the believers away from their faith in Christ. But note that Paul does not pray that the deceivers will suddenly disappear. Nor does the Apostle pray that the believers will find arguments to refute their tempters. Paul only prays for the faithful to be encouraged amid this temptation. You see, the trials of their souls allowed t

Joy (Finding and Maintaining)

“It is a form of an affliction where we permit ourselves to indulge in thoughts of unfairness, until we become thoroughly miserable and obsessed by it. It is a pattern that destroys the good fruit of the Spirit, especially the fruits of inner joy and peace…we all worry about ourselves too much and that only he who leaves everything to the will of God can feel truly joyous, light, and peaceful…He who lives according to God's will has no worries. When he needs something, he sim

Prayer (Continuous)

“The Lord Jesus directs us to continuous prayer because He knows that quick, easy results, obtained conveniently and effortlessly, only tempt us. We of course prefer to ask once and receive immediately, at our convenience. Our self-indulgence prefers methods that involve no struggle. If we receive easily, however, we are likely to remain flabby in our relationship with God. There are other darker, evasive desires that keep us from remaining constant in prayer. We like to keep

Persistence and Patience

“ ‘I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs’ [Luke 11:8]. When a disciple asks Jesus to teach his followers to pray, the Lord offers a two-part answer. He first provides us with a model prayer (Luke 11:2-4). Then He offers two instructive parables with comments (Luke 11: 5-13) urging us to persist in prayer.” (Dynamis 10/27/2020) “Do not grieve if you do not at

Assurance

“Christians are able to face any and every event with confidence in what the Lords intends. Our Lord puts into words His pure gift of revelation that He addresses to all such queries: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father” (vs. 22). We know God’s ultimate conclusion: “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him” (Rev 22:3). God is in charge during every upheaval in our lives. Whatever ha

Conduct

“People are called by God not according to former conduct —good or bad—but by God's grace…everybody is equally a priest before God, everybody is equally called…‘And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear…, (1 Peter 1:17). Why should we pray in fear? Because the Father we serve will judge us according to each one's work. While being certain of God's mercy, we conduc

Human Need

“Physical acts of prayer, prostration, fasting, vigil, worship, and even charity alone without a sincere spirit are useless…What counts is the “circumcision of the heart” as the prophet Jeremiah declared” (Jeremiah 4:4). To this Word of the prophet, Paul adds, “…and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter” (Romans 2:29).” (Fr. Basil) “We know that the scribes and Pharisees were highly respected in the first century for the impeccable manner in

Giving and Receiving

“ ‘So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7). Paul’s purpose was not only for money to be contributed to the poor but for it to be contributed with great eagerness. Likewise, God appointed almsgiving not only for the nourishment of the needy but also for the benefit of the providers, and much more so for the latter than for the former. For if he considered only the interest of the poor

Not Losing Heart in These Troubling Times

Not Losing Heart in These Troubling Times

On Thursday, October 22 at 7 pm, Michael will resume his Zoom classes for the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral Community. Thursday's class, Not Losing Heart in These Troubling Times will offer a brief reflection on what Christ and St. Paul mean when they implore us to not lose heart and how this applies to us today. Michael will open with a brief reflection and it will be followed by interactive discussion and questions and answers. The class will run from 7 pm to 8 pm and any

True Self

“God has created us for Himself and our hearts are designed to find their end in him, yet many spend their days restlessly craving rival gods, frenetically pursuing rival kingdoms.” (James Smith) “Our interior life can be extremely noisy (for some of us, it is an unavoidable artifact of the brain). Finding the heart is thus far more complex than merely looking for a “quiet place.” It is the place of the true self, which is far more than the absence of noise. The stillness of

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